Defence focus shifts to oil, gas

More of Australia’s soldiers, fighter aircraft and warships will probably be moved to Western Australia and the Northern Territory to refocus the country’s defence on Asia and to protect oil and gas fields driving the resources boom.

Defence Minister
Stephen Smith
has appointed former defence secretaries
Allan Hawke
and Ric Smith to review where defence personnel and equipment should be based.

The review is due to be completed by March and will examine threats to the North-West Shelf, which is home to several multibillion-dollar oil and gas projects. It will be the first major review of where Australian forces are located since
Kim Beazley
was defence minister in the mid 1980s.

“The review will consider the rise of the need for energy security in the north-west of Australia, the rise of the Pacific Rim as an area of strategic importance and the need for Australia to respond to humanitarian crises,’’ Mr Smith said at a press conference in Canberra yesterday.

Mr Smith denied the mooted re­location of forces and defence assets was a response to China’s military build-up, which includes a big naval expansion.

He expected China to emerge as a “responsible stakeholder’’ in the international community and that Australia had a strong relationship with Beijing dating from the early 1970s.

However, government officials say privately that their policy is to adopt a tough military posture towards China, in alliance with the US, while encouraging trade and political ties.

The 2009 defence White Paper, which set out Australia’s defence strategy for the next 20 years, upset Beijing because it was predicated on the potential military threat posed by China. It included a plan to build 12 submarines, a big threat to the Chinese navy, which confirmed this month it was working on its first aircraft carrier – a former Soviet vessel that is being refitted.

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The review will be considered as part of the next defence white paper, which is due in 2014. A similar US military study is concentrating on positioning forces in the Asia-Pacific region to counter the risk posed by China. Mr Smith said the review would examine which forces should be re­located and where new warships and aircraft should be based.

The review could lead to an expanded role for the main naval base in Perth, Fleet Base West at Garden Island, and the Curtin Royal Australian Air Force base in the state’s north-west. RAAF Base Darwin or RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory could also be upgraded.

A May report by defence analyst Brice Pacey for the Kokoda Foundation, a think-tank, pointed to the growing importance of the North- West Shelf and the Timor Gap to Australia’s economy and warned that Australia would have to beef up its maritime defences to protect them.

Mr Pacey said the issue was exemplified by a single project: the Chevron-led Greater Gorgon LNG development, which is expected to provide a $64 billion boost to the Australian economy and employ about 10,000 people during the peak construction period.

West Australian Premier
Colin Barnett
said the defence review would help protect increasingly valuable oil and gas resources and assist in dealing with challenges arising in near-northern Asian neighbours.

“There is no doubt we are being drawn ever closer to Asia and the problems of Asia,’’ he told the ABC yesterday.

He downplayed suggestions that the United States would piggyback on the move to develop a greater military presence in the area – possibly basing warships at Perth’s Garden Island.

“I would be surprised if you had a permanent US presence [at Garden Island]," he said.

“But I would certainly welcome more visits by the US Navy. Our ANZUS alliance with the US is our most important security alliance."